Lea Seydoux joins 'M:I-4' as female villain

EXCLUSIVE: Starred in 'Robin Hood,' 'Inglourious Basterds'

Lea Seydoux, the French actress who recently appeared in Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood" and the opening farmhouse scene of "Inglourious Basterds," will square off against Tom Cruise in Paramount's fourth "Mission: Impossible" movie.

Seydoux will play the lead female villain in the pic, which just began shooting in Europe.

The movie features two Europeans as its heavies, with Michael Nyqvist, the actor who played journalist Mikael Blomkvist in the Swedish thriller "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and its sequels, already on board as the male side of the villain coin. The movie, being directed by Brad Bird, has new franchise faces Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Vladimir Mashkov joining regulars Cruise, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg.

J.J. Abrams, who is producing with Cruise and Paula Wagner, worked on the story with scribes Andre Nemec and Josh Appelbaum, who wrote the screenplay.